Means for changing the shapes of and compressing bales.



No. 868,738. PATENTED OUT. 22, 1907.

S. J. WEBB. MEANS FOR CHANGING THE SHAPES OF AND OOMPRESSING BALES.

APPLIOATION TILED NOV.28,1900.

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No. 868,738. PATENTED 001 22, 19.07.

S. J. WEBB.

MEANS FOR CHANGING THE SHAPES OF AND GOMPRBSS ING BALBS.

' APPLICATION FILED 210V. 28. 1906.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

THE NORRIS PETERS cm, WASHINGTON, 1, cv

PATENTED OCT. 22; 1907.

S. J. WEBB. MEANS FOR CHANGING THE SHAPES OF AND GOMPRESSING BALBS;

APPLICATION IILED NOV-28.1900.

4 SHEETSw-SHEET S.

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No. 868,738. PATENTED OUT. 22,1907. S. J. WEBB.

MEANS FORGHANGING THE SHAPES OF AND GOMPRESSING BALES.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 28. 1900.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

. 7 fill/[11111114 III/[III UNITED STATES SAMUEL J. WEBB, OF MINDEN,LOUISIANA.

MEANS FOR CHANGING THE SHAPES OF AND COMPRESSING BALES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 22, 1907.

Application filed November 28, 1900. Serial No. 38,023.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL J. WEBB, a citizen of the United States,residing at Minden, in the parish of Webster and State of Louisiana,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Means for Changingthe Shape of and Uompressing Bales, ofwhich the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to compresses of that class which are adapted moreespecially for compressing bales of cotton and similar material, and theobject of my invention is to provide means whereby the shape of the balecan be changed and the bale compressed,

and to these ends my invention consists in the various means,constructed, combined and arranged to operate substantially in themanner hereinafter more particularly set forth.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a side view of a lever pressembodying my invention; Fig. 2 is a transverse section of the same; Fig.3 is a partial sectional view showing more particularly the means foroperating the pressing heads; Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the exhaustvalve; Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of the dies, showing them inposition to receive a bale; Fig. 6 is a similar view showing the diesclosed; Fig. 7 is a transverse section of the dies, showing thelongitudinal slots; Figs. 8, 9 and 10 are detail views of a pressinghead, and Fig. 11 is a side and end view of the filling pieces.

In my application, Serial No. 36,886, filed Nov. 17, 1900, I havedescribed and claimed an improved method of changing the shape of andcompressing bales of cotton and similar material, and the primary objectof my present invention is to provide means specially adapted to carryout the method set forth in said application. It is evident that myinvention is not limited to such use and that the various elements andcombinations hereinafter set forth may be used ior other purposes ofwhich they are capable.

The main fczn-urcs of my present improvement embody improved platens ordies for use in a compress, so arranged that they may be utilized tofirst change the shape of the halo and compress it, and other featuresof the invention are certain attachments to a compress by means of whichthe bale may be compressed longitlnlinally after being compressed in twotransverse directions, and further the apparatus may be utilized incompressing bales without removing the bands, or for any other purposefor which it is or may be adapted without departing from the generalprinciples of construction and arrangement hereinafter set forth.

In my said application before referred to I have described and claimed amethod of changing the shape of bales, consisting generally stated ofapplying pressure to the edges of the bale tending to compress thematerial of the bale towards its center, thus changing the shape, sothat the parts which in the beginning of the operation formed the edgesof the bale become merged into the sides of the bale, and the edges ofthe finished bale are substantially in the relative positions of thecenters of the sides in the beginning. This changed shape of bale isthen compressed until it is brought to a form in which it is practicallysquare in cross-section, and the bale banded or otherwise treated, andas above intimated the means which I am about to describe are speciallyadapted to carry out this method and will be described when so utilized,without limiting the invention to this particular use.

The platens or dies are, broadly stated, each provided with twocompressing faces arranged at an angle to each other, these compressingfaces uniting with each other on their adjacent edges at a positionwhich corresponds to one of the edges of the bale as finally compressed.Such platens or dies may be arranged in and operated 'by various kindsor styles of compresses, operated either by steam, hydraulic or levermechanism, and in the present instance I shall show them as applied towhat is known as a compound lever press. Such a lever press is fully setforth in my application Serial No. 720,850, filed June 16, 1899, and Ido not deem it necessary to describe it herein with the sameparticularity as I did in that application, but will describe it brieflyso as to enable those skilled in the art to understand the same.

The press comprises a suitable frame, A, mounted upon suitable posts, A,which in turn are mounted on a foundation A, and this frame, A, supportsthe stationary platen, B, having a die or working face, B, and there isanother movable die or working face, O, supported on a movable platen,O. Mounted upon or connected with the frame is a cylinder, D, in whichmoves a piston, D, and to which cylinder steam is supplied through apipe, d, controlled by a valve, cZ which may be operated in any suitableway, as through the operating lover, (Z and suitable connections betweenthe same and the valve. The piston-rod, D is provided with a crosshead,D operating in suitable guides in the frame, A, and connected to thecross-head are links, D, connected to swinging arms, D, the other endsof which arms are pivoted at D to the frame, A. Also connected to thelinks, D, are the links, D the other ends of which are connected topins, D which pins are mounted on levers, D", the inner ends of whichare pivoted to the frame, A. Also mounted on the pins, D are the liftingrods, D the lower ends of which are connected to the lower platen, C.With this arrangement it will be readily understood that when thepiston, D, is raised through the operation of the levers, links andconnecting rods the lower platen is moved upward toward the fixed platenunder great power to compress the material between the platens, and whenthe steam is exhausted from the cylinder, D, and the piston returns tothe position shownrmore particularly in Fig. 2, the lower platen returnsto what may be called its normal position, shown in Figs. and 2.

The dies or jaws, B and O, which are shown in detail in Figs. 5 and G,are adapted in any suitable way to be detachably secured to the upperand lower platens, B, C, respectively, although in some instances theymay be made as integral parts of said platens, and in the presentinstance I have shown them secured by bolts or screws in a manner wellunderstood.

The operating or compresing faces, Z), l), and c, c, of these dies areformed at an angle to each other, with their adjacent edges meeting, asat the points, b'-, 0*.

In order that the bands may be applied to a compressed bale while underpressure between the jaws or dies, slots b 0 are provided in the facesof the jaws, and these slots extend to a depth beyond the points, b asindicated by the letters, b, c", and the screws or bolts b 0 when usedto secure the dies or jaws to the platens are preferably passed throughholes extending from the bottoms of the slots, as indicated. Sometimesit is desirable to use these dies or jaws without the slots, and inorder to do this I provide filling pieces, as b, which are so shaped asto fit in the slots I1 and to be secured therein either by friction orby some suitable device, as for instance the pins, b and, of course,similar filling pieces will be arranged to fill the slots, 0 in the die,G. In utilizing these dies or jaws in carrying out the method of myapplication before referred to, a bale, as for instance, an ordinaryplantation bale, X, is placed in the compress between the dies with itsedges 51:, x, x x bearing on the respective compressing faces, I), b, c,c, as indicated in Fig. 5. As the dies are caused to approach each otherthe portions x, :0 of the sides of the bale gradually approach thepoints, b 0 so that the portions 9;, become the edges of the compressedbale, as indicated in Fig. 6, and the material at the corners 5c, :0 and:0, x approach each other to form the other edges of the rectangular,compressed bale, as indicated in Fig. 6.

When the bale is compressed to the form shown in Fig. 6, the bands canbe applied by passing them through the slots, b 0 and the bale bandedwhile under pres sure on all four of its sides. After the bale has beencompressed on its four sides, as above described, in some instances itis desirable to compress it longitudinally, that is, in the direction ofits length, and while confined or supported between the dies, 13, C.When this is done the filling pieces, I), should be placed in positionto fill the slots, b and similar filling pieces be placed in the slots,0 so that the dies will present practically smooth surfaces and permitthe bale to be further condensed by pressure in the direction. of itslength. In order to accomplish this I provide suitable platens orcompressing heads, E, E, of a shape to correspond with the cross-sectionof the bale, and these heads may be operated in any suitable way, and inthe present instance I have shown the heads as being attached topistons, F, F, working in hydraulic cylinders, G, G, attached to theframe or posts of the press by any suitable means, as the bolts or rods,G and preferably suitable brace rods, G are also used to.

9 While these platens or pressing heads, E, E, may be solid, asindicated in Fig. 3, I preferably construct them substantially asindicated in Figs. 8, 9 and 10, in which each head, as E, is providedwith two sliding face pieces, 0, a, which are arranged to slide in thehead in any suitable way, as by dove-tailed tongue and groove, 6-, andsuitable means, as a spring, 0 is arranged to normally press the facepieces, a, e, apart so that the heads will automatically adjustthemselves to completely fill the space between the compressing faces ofthe dies B and C, and thus the heads are adapted to press the ends ofbales having various crosssectional areas.

In order to cause the face pieces, 6, a to freely enter between thecompressing faces of the dies, B and (l, I preferably provideprojections, B G on the ends of the dies, or some other similar meanswhich will insure the pressing heads entering the space between thedies.

When it is desired to band the halo in the direction of thislongitudinal pressure the compressing faces of the dies, B, C, may beprovided with longitudinal grooves, b and it will be understood that oneor both of the pressing heads, E, E, may be operated to compress thebale longitudinally, or one of them may be brought into position againstone end of the, compressed bale and act as a confining plate or abutmentwhile the hale is being compressed longitudinally by the movement of theother pressing head, and then the complete, finished bale will be nearone end of the dies or jaws, B, C, and can be readily handed and tied inthe direction of this last or longitudinal compression.

In actual practice I. have found that while in order to compress a baleof cotton to a certain density it may require a certain pressure persquare inch of surface, after the bale has been compressed to suchdensity it can be held or maintained at that density by a much lesspressure per square inch; or in other words, after the bale has beencompressed to a certain dei'isity it can be held and maintained at thatdensity by a pressure upon the bale of about one-fourth the pressure persquare inch required to attain the density. Thus in the presentapparatus, after the hale has been compressed to a certain densitybetween the dies, B, (l, and it is desired to further compress itlongitudinally the bale may be main tained at that density under a muchless pressure at its sides. moving surface, other things being equal, isproportionate to the weight pressing on the n'iaterial, and in order torelieve the friction. on the bale when it is being compressedhmgitudinally I provide means for relieving the. pressure upon the dies,13, C. To do this in the present instance I connect with the exhaustpipe, H, of the cylinder, D, an exhaust valve, II, which is providedwith a piston, it, working in a cylinder, h, in the valve casing, andthis valve is adapted to be operated in the usual way by a cam, if, on ashaft, h, operated by the operating lever, (7 Further, to accomplish theresult just stated I provide a by-pass, I, extending from the pipe, IT,or the cylinder, D, to the cylinder, h, of the valve casing,and connectwith said pipe a pressure regulator, J, shown as being of the wellknowndiaphragm construction, and this is also connected to the pipe, H, orthe cylinder, D, by a pipe, J, having a valve, j, to control the flow offluid to the pressure regulator J. This valve can be operated inFurther, it is well known that the friction on a any suitable way, as bythe operating lever, J and when this valve is opened steam is admittedto the pressure regulator, .T, which in a manner well understoodcontrols the lluid passing through the by-pass I, to the cylinder, h, ofthe valve casing, and thus automatically controls the position of theexhaust valve, H, and reduces the pressure in the cylinder, D, to acertain 1. redeter1nined amount, which is the necessary amount to holdthe (lies, B, G, in position to maintain the density already produced bythe operation of said dies. Thus it will be seen that after the bale iscompressed on its sides, by this arrangement the pressure on the dies,can be relieved to a greater or less extent and the dies maintained inposition while the bale is being compressed in the direction of itslength and handed or otherwise secured, and then by operating the valve,H, by the operating lever, (1 the fluid can be completely exhausted fromunder the piston, D, and the piston will then return to its normalposition, and through its connecting mechanism restore the movableplaten to its normal position.

What I claim is:

1. In a compress, the combination with platens, each having two opposingcomprcssing faces at an angle to each other and adapted to receive abale between them with its edges mccling said faces, of means foroperating one 01 said platens to bring it toward the other to form newsiucs for the bale and to compress said sides, substantially asdescribed.

2. in a compress. the combination with platens, each having two opposingcompressing faces at an angle to each other and adaplcd to receive abale between them with its edges mecting said faces, of means for movingone platen toward the other to compress the bale on its edges to formnew sides, and means whereby the bale may be handed while undercompression on 0111 sides, substantially as described.

3. In a compress. the combination with platens, each having two opposingcompressing faces at substantially a right angle to each other andadapted to receive a bale placed between the platens with its edgesmeeting said faces. of means for moving the platens toward each other,to comprcss the hair on its edges to change the form of the bale and toform a bale having a practically square cross-section. substantially asdescribed.

4. In a. compres the combination with platens, each having two oppos 1gcompressing faces at an angle to each other and mlnplctl to receive andcompress a bale, of pressing heads arranged to compr ss the balelongitudi nally while conlincd between said platens, substantially asdescribed.

5. in a compress, the combination with platens, each having two opposingcompressing faces at an angle to each other and adapted to receive andcompress a bale, of prc lug heads baring expansible l'aces arranged tocoinpress the bale longitmlinally while conlincd between said platens,substantially as described.

6. In a compress, the combination with platens, each having, twoopposing compressing faces at an angle to each other and adaptedtoreceive and compress a bale, of pressing; heads arranged to compress thebale longitudinally while confined between said platens, and means foropcr ting the platens and heads, substantially as described.

7. In a compress, the combination with platens, of a cylinder foroperating said platens to compress a bale, an exhaust valve connected tosaid cylinder, and means connected to said exhaust valve forautomatically controlling the pressure in the cylinder and upon theplaten, substantially as described.

8. In a compress, the combination with platens, of a cylinder foroperating them to compress a bale, an exhaust valve connected to saidcylinder, a pressure regulator conncctcd to said exhaust valve forautomatically controlling the pressure in the cylinder and upon theplaten, substantially as described.

9. In a compress for bales, the combination with platens provided withgrooves, movable filling pieces to fit the grooves, and longitudinalpressing heads, substantially as described.

10. In a compress for bales, the combination with the platens, eachplaten having two compressing surfaces at an angle to each other andprovided with grooves, of movable filling pieces to fit the grooves, andlongitudinal compressing heads, substantially as described.

11. In a compress :tor bales, the combination with the platens, eachplaten having two compressing surfaces at an angle to each other andprovided with grooves, of movable iilling pieces to iii: the grooves,and adjustable longitudinal compressing heads, substantially asdescribed.

12. In a press having pressing surfaces to inclose the four sides of abale, a pressing head adapted to work between the said surfaces andmeans for operating the presslug head, substantially as described.

13. In a press, platens having faces at an angle to each other, meansfor moving one toward the other, and pressing heads or platens arrangedto press the halo longitudinally, substantially as described.

i 14. In a press, platens having faces at an angle to each other, meansfor moving one toward the other, pressing heads or platens arranged topress the bale longitudinally, means for operating one of the platens,and means for operating one or both of the pressing heads, substantiallyas described.

15. In a press with pressing surfaces at an angle to each other forpressing the bale, of means for operating them and means forautomatically controlling the pressure on the halo, substantially asdescribed.

16. In a press with pressing surfaces-at an angle to each other forpressing the halo, of means for operating them and means forautomatically controlling the pressure on the bale, and a pressing heador heads, substan tially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

SAMUEL .T. WEBB.

Witnesses I". I. FREEMAN, W. CLARENCE DUVALL.

